Amunix Secures $73 Million Series A Financing Led by Omega Funds with Participation from Delian Capital to Advance Prodrug Immunotherapies for Solid Tumors

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on March 5, Amunix announced the completion of a $73 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Omega Funds, with participation from Longitude Capital, Redmile Group, Polaris Partners, Casdin Capital, Two River, Venrock, and Delian Capital. Existing investor Frazier Healthcare Partners also continued its participation.

Amunix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing prodrug-based immune-activating therapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company is dedicated to developing a series of target-activatable bispecific antibodies and cytokine therapeutics to overcome the existing toxicity and immunogenicity challenges in this field. Its XPATs and XPACs technology platforms are both derived from its clinically validated, low-immunogenicity XTEN technology platform.

On January 10 this year, the company announced that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Roche, under which Roche will leverage Amunix’s XTEN technology platform to identify and develop non-oncology therapeutics targeting specific undisclosed targets. Under the terms of the deal, Roche will pay Amunix a $40 million upfront payment, and Amunix will be eligible for up to $1.5 billion in subsequent milestone payments as drug development progresses, as well as royalties on product sales following commercial launch.

This round of financing will help Amunix transition from a technology platform company to an oncology drug development company. Since its inception, Amunix has operated as a technology platform company, entering into multiple collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies through its proprietary XTEN half-life extension platform and its next-generation Pro-XTEN technology platform featuring targeted proteolytic activation. The Pro-XTEN technology platform has been clinically validated, and the most advanced project utilizing this platform is currently in pivotal Phase III clinical trials for non-oncology indications. Since the appointment of Dr. Angie You as Chief Executive Officer in January 2019, Amunix has focused on further developing its XPAT and XPAC technology platforms while establishing its own product pipeline.

Amunix plans to use the funds raised in this round, along with the $40 million upfront payment received from its previous collaboration with Roche Pharmaceuticals, to advance AMX-818, its product targeting HER2-positive solid tumors, into clinical development, while also progressing other early-stage projects and initiating development of the XPAC platform.

“Closing our Series A financing represents a significant milestone for Amunix, providing us with ample capital to advance our pipeline of bispecific antibodies and cytokines targeting solid tumors,” said Dr. Angie You, Chief Executive Officer of Amunix. “Bio-immune activators hold great potential in helping cancer patients achieve better clinical outcomes. We are focused on leveraging our clinically validated prodrug platform to apply it to bispecific antibody and cytokine therapeutics, aiming to effectively harness the activity of these therapies while enhancing their safety profile and avoiding unexpected side effects. Meanwhile, our XPAT bispecific antibody technology platform holds the potential to develop universal T-cell redirecting therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.”

Dr. Stampacchia, Founder of Omega Funds, stated, “We are delighted to lead Amunix’s Series A financing in the current market environment and are equally pleased that this round has attracted a group of experienced, long-term investors with deep familiarity in this field. We look forward to leveraging the company’s platform to address the challenges faced by existing therapies in this area. We believe Amunix’s next-generation XPAT TCE platform holds significant potential to tackle the on-target, off-tumor toxicity issues associated with such products when applied to the treatment of solid tumors.”

Zhao Guobao, Senior Vice President of Delian Capital, stated, “We are delighted to participate in this round of financing alongside top-tier international pharmaceutical investors. The company boasts an experienced management team and a clinically validated technology platform capable of extending drug half-life, reducing immunogenicity, and enabling targeted release. We firmly believe that the company’s technology platform holds immense application potential in the field of immune activation.”

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Amunix focuses on developing prodrug therapies of immune activators for the treatment of solid tumors. The company leverages its proprietary XPAT and XPAC technology platforms to develop a series of prodrug therapies that can be selectively released within the tumor microenvironment. Both of the company’s prodrug platform technologies have been clinically validated, demonstrating their ability to extend drug half-life while eliciting minimal immunogenicity. Amunix’s lead candidate is a bispecific antibody prodrug targeting HER2-positive tumors, developed using the XPAT platform, with multiple other programs—including an IL-12 XPAC product—currently under development.